


if my love was like a flower, would you grow it?

by softsapphiq (modernpatroclus)



Series: merfuma florist/surfer au [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F, Meet-Cute, Strangers to Lovers, Surfer Mermista, adora is an aspiring Professional Horse Girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22593517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modernpatroclus/pseuds/softsapphiq
Summary: Perfuma didn't want to leave her hometown, but when she gets the chance to move to Salineas and open her own flower shop, she realizes that maybe living with the constant smell of fish isn't so horrible.
Relationships: Mermista/Perfuma (She-Ra)
Series: merfuma florist/surfer au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852333
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	if my love was like a flower, would you grow it?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dear_universe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dear_universe/gifts).



> the title comes from vulnerable by selena gomez
> 
> happy valentine's day! this is for bunny, aka nbdoubletrouble on tumblr! i hope you like it :)

“Well,” Adora said, standing with her hands on her hips. “Looks like we’re done here.”

“How are you still standing?” Glimmer asked, panting. She was laying flat on her back in the middle of Perfuma’s apartment, her arm flung across her eyes. “Are you even human?”

“Seriously,” Bow wheezed. He was spread-eagle across Perfuma’s bed by the window.

Perfuma was perched on the edge of her small coffee table that still somehow took up most of the room.

Adora shrugged, grinning widely. “Good genes?”

Perfuma laughed. She didn’t know Adora well, but she already liked her.

“Thank you all for helping,” Perfuma said, dabbing a bead of sweat on her forehead with her sleeve. “It would’ve taken days for me to set all of this up by myself. I don’t exactly have the most impressive upper body strength.” She flexed her right arm to demonstrate. Adora frowned and poked at her muscles.

“Not bad for a florist.”

Perfuma smiled. “Gardening requires a lot of physical activity, you know. It’s harder than it looks.”

“And you’ll be the best gardener in town! People will line the block to get their hands on your bouquets,” Bow said.

“Not that there’s a ton of competition around here,” Glimmer said. “Salineas is tiny _._ The last person who moved here was Adora—two years ago.”

Bow frowned. “That can’t be right. Didn’t Sea Hawk move here after Adora?”

“Okay,” Glimmer conceded, “but he doesn’t live here full-time. Crashing on our couch during the summer doesn’t count as ‘moving.’”

“Well, I welcome the change. Plumeria is beautiful, and I already miss my family, but there are so many florists and greenhouses in the city. I could never compete, especially not when I’m starting out.”

“Hey, you’re amazing at what you do. You make the best arrangements I’ve ever seen!” Bow said.

Adora snorted. “What do you know about flower arrangements?”

Bow crossed his arms over his chest. “Hey, I stay involved in everything my friends are passionate about. I go to all of your jumping competitions, don’t I? And I never complain about how bad they smell, I’ll have you know.”

“Horses do not smell!” Adora said.

“I’ve gotta agree with Bow on this one,” Glimmer said. “I know you take great care of Swift Wind, but all of those horses in one space?” She wrinkled her nose. “Not great.”

“They’re outside!”

Perfuma clapped her hands, dispelling the tension before it could devolve into an argument. She couldn’t tell how serious it was getting, since she’d only met Glimmer and Adora once before today, but she did know that food could go a long way to quell discontent. “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m hungry after all of that heavy lifting. Does anyone know a place with a decent vegan menu?”

“Do you know when you’ll have the shop up and running?” Glimmer asked through a mouthful of pizza twenty minutes later. “I want to buy something nice for my mom’s office. It’s so utilitarian in there. It could use some color.”

“What did you do this time?” Bow asked before Perfuma could answer.

Glimmer sat up and glared at him. “What are you talking about?”

Perfuma glanced between the two of them.

“What did you do that you’re trying to suck up to Angella with flowers?”

Glimmer huffed and threw the red hoodie at him that Adora had shed earlier. Bow flailed and tried to roll out of the way, but the hoodie smacked him in the face. He let out a—very dignified, Perfuma would later assure screech.

“Good thing you don’t have neighbors, huh?” Adora asked Perfuma.

“I suppose having this building to myself has its benefits,” she admitted. Perfuma’s new loft apartment was situated above what would soon become her new flower shop.

It was the best situation she could’ve hoped for; the rent was affordable, not just because the living space was so cozy. Glimmer’s mother, a leasing agent, offered to rent her the entire building at a fraction of what she’d have to pay just to rent a small spot back in Plumeria. Thanks to Bow getting Glimmer to ask her mom what she could do for Perfuma, she could finally afford to realize her dream of becoming a florist.

She was a little afraid of getting lonely, though. She’d never lived alone before. But Perfuma was nothing if not an eternal optimist. It would take some getting used to, but she would adjust in time.

Besides, she would have the shop to keep her busy all day, and working with customers would give her plenty of human interaction. She wouldn’t have time to get lonely.

Something she wasn’t entirely sure she would get used to was the smell. Perfuma had never been to the ocean before she came to Salineas, and she hadn’t realized how pungent it would be. Plumeria was lush with greenery, from the trees the streets were built around instead of bulldozed, to the big open fields separating the houses in the outskirts of the city. It smelled earthy, clean. Not fishy.

But, Perfuma reminded herself, it was just another exciting part of living in a new place. Plus, she had Bow, whom she’d hardly seen in the three years since he’d moved to Salineas for college. And his friends seemed eager to welcome Perfuma into their group. They’d even helped her move, even though they’d only met her once, last year when Bow brought them home the last time he’d visited his dads.

Salineas may be the opposite of Plumeria, but people were what made a place into a home, and Perfuma was looking forward to building a life here.

“Okay, I think we’re ready,” Perfuma said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

“Are you nervous?” Spinnerella, Perfuma’s new cashier, asked as she affixed her name tag to her top.

“A little,” Perfuma admitted. “I still can’t believe it’s happening. I’ve wanted to have my own flower shop for as long as I can remember.”

Spinnerella put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Perfuma looked at her, and she was met with a motherly sort of smile.

“Then let’s make it happen.”

Two hours and a handful of curious window shoppers-turned customers later, Perfuma was in the back taking her lunch break.

“Happy opening day!” Bow called from the front of the store. “Oh, hi. Where’s Perfuma?”

Spinnerella’s gentle laugh floated through the store. “She’s in the back. I’ll get her for you.”

“No need,” Perfuma said, emerging from the small storage/staff room. Glimmer and Adora were with him, which she hadn’t expected. “Spinnerella, you can take your break now, if you’d like.”

Spinnerella smiled and squeezed Perfuma’s shoulder on her way to the back to grab her purse.

“There’s our little entrepreneur!” Bow said, walking toward Perfuma with his arms extended. She grinned and walked into his arms.

“Thank you all for coming by," she said, pulling out of the hug and leaning against Bow’s side.

“Of course,” Glimmer said, walking further into the store and inspecting a bouquet of stargazer lilies.

Adora was behind her. She poked an aloe vera leaf, then frowned and pulled her hand away. “Ow,” she muttered, walking away and revealing a fourth figure in the doorway.

It was a woman in a cropped teal swim shirt and matching shorts that contrasted with her dark skin. Her long, damp hair was tied into a ponytail that fell onto her shoulder.

“How’s business going so far?” Glimmer asked, pulling Perfuma’s attention away from the stranger.

Perfuma righted a cluster of baby’s breath that was dangerously close to falling over. “Well, I think, for a first day. Not that I have much to compare it to. The flower shop I used to work at was about ten years old when I started, so it was always fairly busy.”

“She’s being modest,” Spinnerella said. “We’ve had a steady stream of customers all afternoon. Perfuma has great customer service skills.”

Before Perfuma could argue back, Spinnerella floated out the front door.

“Impressive,” the dark-haired woman said. She was leaning against the counter, a thick eyebrow raised. “Some days, my dad doesn’t get that much business—and he’s owned a marina by the beach for the last twenty-five years.”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you!” Bow pulled Perfuma over to the woman. “Perfuma, this is Mermista. She works down at the marina when she’s not surfing.”

“Wow, really? I’ve never seen someone surf in real life before.”

Mermista smirked. “You can come watch me sometime,” she offered. “I’m out there almost every day. I can even show you a few things, if you’re not afraid of sharks.”

“I’d like that,” Perfuma said. Bow jabbed her ever so slightly with his elbow. She ignored him.

“How about Sunday? It shouldn’t be crowded since it’s still pretty cold out.”

That caught Perfuma by surprise; she hadn’t expected Mermista to take her up on that so soon, but she was pleased.

“‘Pretty cold’?” Glimmer interrupted. “It’s February. You’re the only person crazy enough to even go near the water right now.”

Mermista waved a dismissive hand. “It’s not that cold. Plus, I wasn’t talking to you, Sparkles.”

Glimmer harrumphed. Perfuma stifled a laugh, watching Adora teasingly console her, ruffling her hair.

“Sunday sounds nice,” Perfuma said.

Mermista grinned. “Awesome. I’ll come by around four and we can walk down together.” Then she sighed and tightened her ponytail. “I gotta go before I’m late for work. See you Sunday,” she said to Perfuma. “See the rest of you… whenever.”

Glimmer scoffed.

After the door closed behind Mermista, Adora stretched and said, “I’m heading out, too. Gonna hit the gym.” She waved. “Bye, Perfuma.”

Glimmer followed her out. “Good luck with the rest of the day!” she called over her shoulder.

“I’ll come by during my lunch break tomorrow,” Bow promised, squeezing her against his side one last time.

“So,” Bow began, a lilt to his voice that Perfuma knew, from experience, meant trouble. “Ready for your date this weekend?”

Perfuma’s cheeks warmed. “Date? You think Mermista asked me to hang out as a date?”

Bow raised an eyebrow. “Well, she is coming to pick you up so you can spend the day alone together. Sounds like a date to me.”

“Oh.” Perfuma twirled her fork around her salad absently, turning her conversation with Mermista from the other day over in her mind. She stifled a smile.

“You do want it to be a date, right? Probably should’ve asked that first, but you seemed pretty into her yesterday.”

Perfuma looked at him, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”

Bow grinned but pretended to play it off. “Oh, nothing. You just stared at her a lot. Like, the whole time.”

Perfuma groaned and speared a cherry tomato with her fork. “I did? Was it obvious?”

Bow laughed. “I’m kidding! Well, mostly. I noticed, but I doubt anyone else did. I know you, so you can’t fool me. But you weren’t, like, ogling her with your mouth open or anything, so you’re probably fine.”

Perfuma gave him an irritated look for all of five seconds, before shrugging it off. “I do want it to be a date, but I didn’t want to assume that she did.”

“I’m kind of surprised you like her so much. I wasn’t sure you two would get along. You’re so…” Perfuma watched him consider his words. “Well, you’re the sweetest person I know. Mermista is really reserved until you get to know her. And she’s really sarcastic. You can get along with anyone, though, so I’m more surprised she seemed so interested in you right away. When I first met her, Glimmer, Adora, and I had to go to the marina and pretend to be interested in boats, like, five times before she finally caved and agreed to hang out with us.”

“Well, I’m flattered she wants to see me again. And,” she admitted, leaning her head against Bow’s shoulder, “I think I’m starting to like it here.”

“Aw,” he crooned. “Don’t get sappy on me. I can’t cry right now; I have class in half an hour.”

When Mermista knocked on her door Sunday afternoon, Perfuma was in the middle of second-guessing her entire conversation with Bow.

He’d seemed sure Mermista was asking her on a date, and he knew her better than Perfuma did, but what if he was wrong about this? What if he’d misread the situation, and Perfuma went into this with her hopes up, and Mermista wasn’t even romantically interested in her?

She’d been pacing her back and forth between her bed and the kitchen since she’d finished getting ready when a knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Coming!” she called, walking to the far wall by her bed and closing her window before answering the door.

Perfuma’s face was hot from her pacing by the time she pushed the door open. She hoped Mermista didn’t notice the slight shortness of her breath when she spoke.

“Hello, Mermista.”

“Hey.” Mermista came in and leaned against the doorframe, the picture of nonchalance. She eyed Perfuma up and down once, a slight quirk to the left side of her lips. “Nice outfit.”

Perfuma self-consciously felt the cotton of her long, pink dress.

“But you should definitely bring a jacket or something. It gets pretty windy down by the water.”

“Oh, right.” Perfuma grabbed her floor-length teal cardigan, wrapping it around herself as she stepped out onto the stair landing with Mermista.

“Ready?”

Perfuma smiled, relaxing in the fresh air. “I can’t wait to see you out there.”

Mermista held her hand out like she was waiting to feel a raindrop. “We lucked out with the weather. This breeze is gonna create some great waves.”

As they neared the beach and the sand bled onto the concrete, Perfuma felt a flutter of excitement. She’d never had a burning desire to go to the beach before, but now that she was nearly there and could hear the waves crashing in the distance, she was starting to understand the hype. It was as if the tide was pulling her in.

Perfuma was surprised when she sunk into the sand.

Mermista watched her. “You’ve really never been to a beach before?”

Perfuma shook her head. “There’s a gorgeous lake just outside of Plumeria, and I used to go there a lot when I was a child, but there’s not really any sand like this. It’s mostly mud and rocks.”

“Wow. That’s so weird. I’ve lived by the ocean my whole life. I can’t imagine not having it nearby.”

When they reached a line separating the dry, lighter sand from the wet, Mermista kicked off her sandals and stuck her surfboard, a glossy teal with gold accents, in the sand. She dropped her bag, and Perfuma expected her to roll out the towel she’d brought, but Mermista ignored it and pulled out a small bottle of sunscreen instead.

“You’ll want some of this,” she said, handing it to Perfuma. “It doesn’t feel hot, but the sun still gets pretty intense out here.”

Perfuma slid her sweater off of her shoulders and shivered.

“Cold?” Mermista asked.

“You weren’t kidding about the breeze. It feels ten degrees cooler out here than at my apartment.”

Perfuma was going to put her sweater back on when she was done applying sunscreen, but Mermista surprised her when she said, “You wanna come down to the water with me?”

Perfuma was tempted to say no; if the air was this cold, what was the water like? But she didn’t know if Mermista would want to hang out with her again after today, and she wanted to take advantage of this time she had with her.

In answer, Perfuma slipped out of her own sandals and started for the water. She didn’t have a bathing suit since she’d never needed one, but her old dress had been through many days in the searing sun, drenched in Perfuma’s sweat.

“It’s going to be cold,” Mermista warned. She caught up easily to Perfuma, who was struggling in the slippery sand.

When they reached the shore, Perfuma stopped just out of reach of the lapping waves. Mermista waited next to her and watched the water. 

Perfuma loved being outside: the shelter of the trees, the plantlife, the animals. 

Standing in front of the ocean, watching the water crawl toward her only to pull back at the last second, her toes buried in the soft sand, she was mesmerized.

Suddenly, the water came out further, splashing over her feet and hitting the bottoms of her shins. She gasped at the cool shock on her bare skin, but she didn’t back up.

“Told you it was cold,” Mermista teased.

The water receded and didn’t reach them again, so Perfuma stepped forward until she was ankle-deep in the frigid water. Mermista came up next to her and grabbed her hand. Goosebumps pricked Perfuma’s arms.

“Do you trust me?” Mermista asked, her tone tinged with mischief. Perfuma looked at her, confused.

“Um…” She could barely think past the cold softness of Mermista’s hand in hers, a stark contrast to her own warm hands, weathered from years of digging through the dirt and pulling up weeds without gloves.

“Come on.” Mermista tugged her forward and Perfuma, helpless to do anything but follow, let her until they were chest-deep in the icy water.

Perfuma shrieked. Mermista laughed.

“Put your head under!”

“What? No!”

“It’ll warm you up,” Mermista insisted.

Perfuma gaped at her.

Mermista rolled her eyes. “It will, I promise. Your goosebumps will go away.” She ran her free hand over Perfuma’s forearm.

Perfuma met her eyes. They were warm, earnest.

“Okay,” Perfuma relented. “But if I die of hypothermia, tell Bow to find nice homes for my plants.”

Mermista grinned and threw herself headfirst into the next wave, bringing Perfuma with her.

For a moment, Perfuma felt like even if she could breathe underwater, she wouldn’t be able to. There was nothing in her lungs. Mermista was wrong; the cold was a hundred times worse now.

Perfuma burst up to the surface, gasping.

But as quickly as the cold hit her, it faded. The air felt impossibly warm against her exposed upper body, so much better now that it was out of the water. Her hair dripped against her back, too, but it was more bearable now that her whole body had been exposed to the water.

Told you,” Mermista drawled, smug.

Perfuma stuck out her tongue.

“Congratulations. You’re officially the biggest sucker I know.”

“What do you mean?” Perfuma asked, nervous again. Mermista was too much for Perfuma’s delicate disposition.

“You’re the only person I’ve been able to convince to swim so far this year. Even Adora wouldn’t get in when I dared her.”

“Wow.” From Bow’s stories, Perfuma knew Adora wasn’t the type to back down from a challenge. She seemed to thrive on proving herself, even when she was the only one doubting herself.

“So should I be proud of myself, or just embarrassed?” Perfuma asked.

Mermista shrugged. “Eh, a little bit of both. I think it’s pretty badass of you, personally. But everyone else will just call you crazy.”

“Bow will make me see a doctor to make sure I don’t have pneumonia if he finds out.”

Mermista laughed.

“I wasn’t joking,” Perfuma insisted.

Mermista threw her head back, laughing harder. “I know,” she said, breathless.

A breeze swept through. Perfuma shuddered, all the warmth she’d managed to find gone.

“Why don’t we head back up? I’ll grab my board and you can dry off.”

Perfuma perked up again at the thought of wrapping up in a sun-warmed towel and watching Mermista surf. “That sounds nice.”

As they trudged back through the sand, Perfuma started to understand why Bow complained about it so much.

It clung to everything: the tops of her feet, the backs of her legs, the bottom of her dress. There were even grains on her arms and in her hair.

When they reached their things and Mermista handed her the towel, mercifully mostly untouched by the sand, Perfuma realized why Mermista hadn’t lain it out. She wrapped it around her shoulders, appreciating wearing one thing not covered in it and irritating her skin.

Mermista shouldered her surfboard as easily as if it weighed five pounds.

Perfuma lay the towel out and pulled her sweater back on, settling on the towel as Mermista made her way back down to the water. Mermista paddled out on her knees, and Perfuma watched her stand with bated breath as she approached a wave, somehow steady despite the water rocking under her.

Mermista rode the wave confidently, treading down the front, keeping ahead of the foamy crest. She rode it out until the water came up and completely swallowed her—only to pull back and reveal her still, inexplicably, on her board. Even more incredibly, she still had full control of it. She rode the rest of the wave on her stomach, and when she reached the shore, she jumped up and grinned brilliantly.

She ran back into the water again, and this time when the wave closed around her, Mermista rode through it like a tunnel. She emerged from the spray crouched low, gliding smoothly atop the dull slope.

Perfuma watched, fascinated, as time and time again, Mermista rode into what should’ve swallowed her up and spat her back out without her board, only for her to come out victorious each time.

It was incredible, Perfuma thought. Mermista belonged in the water.

After an hour, as the sun started to sink lower in the sky and baby blue gave way to a brilliant mixture of orange and pink, Mermista took one last wave like a skateboard ramp, flying up above the water with the board still attached to her feet, colliding back to the surface. When she skidded to a smooth stop at the shoreline, this time, she tucked her board under her arm and strode back up the sand to Perfuma.

“So,” she said, not nearly as out of breath as Perfuma would’ve been. Mermista stuck the end of her board into the sand and wrung out her hair. “What’d you think?”

Perfuma gaped long enough that Mermista gave her a prompting lift of her eyebrow.

Perfuma scrambled to her feet, excitement taking over. “That was amazing! How did you—where did you learn all of that?”

“My mom taught me the basics, and I’ve gone out as much as I can ever since. Pretty cool, huh?”

Her confidence could’ve come across as arrogance, but after watching Mermista prove she was every bit as skilled as her words suggested and then some, Perfuma felt Mermista was selling herself short. She had every right, in Perfuma’s opinion, to be as proud of herself as she pleased.

“That was way better than just ‘pretty good,’” Perfuma assured her. “How do you stay on when the water comes down on you like that? The first time, I thought for sure you’d lost your board.”

Mermista smiled, clearly pleased by Perfuma’s praise. “It’s not as hard as it looks, once you get the hang of it.”

“I doubt it.” Perfuma gestured to her own six-foot frame. “I have a hard enough time not tripping over my own feet on land. The fact that you can not only manage to stand up when a giant wave is coming at you, but somehow stay on your board the entire time?” Perfuma shook her head.  
It’s just—it’s incredible.”

Mermista’s face darkened ever so slightly. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Thanks. Maybe next time, I can get you out on a board and teach you a few things.”

Perfuma’s nerves returned in full force. “I’d like there to be a next time,” she admitted.

Mermista grinned and took Perfuma’s hand, her confidence evidently returning. “Sounds like a date.”

Perfuma giggled, the tension she’d felt all week evaporating. She felt light, despite her still-damp clothes clinging to her skin. “This has been a lovely first date,” she said, gaining more confidence.

“Yeah?” Mermista asked, her voice low. She stepped closer to Perfuma.

“I think I know what would make it better, though.”

Mermista watched Perfuma close the rest of the space between them, her eyes hooded.

Perfuma waited, anticipation curling in her chest, when Mermista finally got tired of waiting. She pulled Perfuma in by the front of her dress, their lips touching. It was soft and sweet, perfect for a first kiss, but with enough pressure that, when they pulled apart, Perfuma was left wanting another.

“Wanna go get some dinner?” Mermista asked, still holding Perfuma’s hand. “There’s a pretty good vegan place not far from here.”

“Are you vegan?” Perfuma asked, curious.

“Vegetarian,” Mermista said, bending down to collect her things. “But Bow told me you’re vegan.”

Perfuma smiled, pleased that Mermista had asked Bow about her. “That sounds perfect,” she said, helping Mermista gather everything from the sand.


End file.
